After a narrow defeat in the season opener a week ago, the New Orleans Saints were looking to bounce back in Week 2 as they hosted the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday afternoon. Catch up on everything that went down in the Caesars Superdome.
First Quarter
The Saints received the ball first in this one, and Alvin Kamara got things underway with a run up the middle before Spencer Rattler made a huge splash on his first throw, finding Rashid Shaheed for 39 yards to fast-track the black and gold into field goal range.
From there, another short run from Kamara preceded a pair of incompletions intended for Chris Olave and set up a 40-yard field goal attempt for Blake Grupe. Grupe missed wide right, and the game remained scoreless.
With Mac Jones in at quarterback for the injured Brock Purdy, the 49ers offense entered the game. But their first drive was over before it started. Three incompletions from Jones marked a three-and-out, and former Saint Thomas Morstead was out to punt for the visitors.
Though the Saints quickly returned the favor, with Kamara finding success on the ground before Rattler had three incompletions of his own, and the ball was punted once again.
The visitors found their feet on the ensuing drive. Jones connected with a variety of receivers, also making good yards on the ground through both his own scrambles and runs from Christian McCaffrey.
The Niners drove 80 yards, capped off by a touchdown pass to Luke Farrell for the game’s first score. The extra point was no good, so the score stayed 6-0.
A holding against Erik McCoy limited the Saints as they looked to respond, with Kendre Miller responsible for the only 4 yards gained on the drive before another punt.
McCaffrey then ran twice for a total of 17 yards before the quarter’s end.
Second Quarter
Jones picked up where he left off, finding Jake Tonges and Ricky Pearsall for first downs as the Niners marched into Saints territory. He did have to recover his own fumble, which slowed progress and eventually forced a field goal attempt.
The 44-yarder was good from Eddy Pineiro to extend the lead to 9-0.
Rattler was sacked on the first play of the next drive, and a pair of short completions to Kamara and Olave weren’t enough to find a first down. New Orleans punted again.
Carl Granderson forced a sack of his own as San Francisco got the ball back, which helped matters for the Saints defense as Morstead was also soon out to punt.
Rattler returned, and the Saints offense finally found some rhythm. A 20-yard pass to Brandin Cooks, an 11-yard link-up with Juwan Johnson, and a 15-yard run from Kamara were the highlights of a drive that went 84 yards in under 6 minutes, capped by an 18-yard touchdown pass caught again by Johnson.
Grupe nailed the point after, leaving the score 9-7.
Despite having less than 80 seconds to work with, the 49ers found an instant response before halftime. Jones found Jauan Jennings twice for a total of 42 yards, as well as connections with Tonges, McCaffrey, and Kendrick Bourne.
With the help of timeouts, San Francisco had a shot at the end zone. Jones found it, throwing to McCaffrey to restore a two-possession lead just before the half.
The extra point meant the visitors went into the break up 16-7.
Third Quarter
There were penalties against both teams on a rocky first drive of the second half for San Francisco, which ended with a fumble recovered by Demario Davis that gave the Saints great field position as the offense came out.
Rattler took advantage, as Johnson and Kamara produced the bulk of the yards before he found Shaheed in the end zone to cut into the lead once again.
Grupe’s extra point made it 16-14.
McCaffrey and Bourne proceeded to do more damage as San Francisco looked to re-establish a two-score cushion. They couldn’t do that, but they did gain enough yards for Pineiro to make a 46-yard field goal and push the lead up to 5.
Rattler found Olave for 12 yards on a drive that started promisingly for the black and gold as they searched for their first lead of the game. But Kamara would then fumble, which was forced and recovered by Fred Warner to get the ball back to the Niners.
McCaffrey kept doing damage as he caught for 14 yards and ran for another 5 before the quarter’s end.
Fourth Quarter
Jones found McCaffrey for another 13 yards early in the fourth. A few plays later, he’d make the most important throw of the day for the Niners as he connected with Jennings on a 42-yard touchdown.
Another successful extra point put the Niners out in front 26-14.
Needing yet another response, Rattler was again able to find it.
Two connections with Olave, coupled with a busy drive on the ground for Kamara, put the Saints deep into the red zone. A 3-yard touchdown pass to DeVaughn Vele put the hosts back within striking distance, with the extra point leaving the score 26-21.
Three consecutive punts followed in quick succession, with the third giving the ball back to the Saints with just under 3 minutes and a chance to win the game.
Rattler made six straight completions, twice to Olave and once to Cooks, Shaheed, Johnson, and Kamara. But an incompletion intended for Johnson on third down left the Saints in need of a fourth down conversion.
The snap was fumbled, and although Cesar Ruiz recovered it for New Orleans, the turnover on downs ended the game and secured victory for San Francisco.
Jones kneeled out the clock, and the 49ers held on to win 26-21.
After a pair of one-score defeats to start the season, the black and gold will now hit the road for the first time when they visit the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
